No Fees or Costs if We Don’t Get You Money

We only represent people who were:

Live in Florida and were hurt in another state in the United States. (If we are ethically allowed to handle this type of case, we may need to co-counsel this type of case.)

Common questions about our fees and costs.

Do you have to pay us any money up front for us to represent you?

No. We are only paid if we make a recovery. This is discussed further below.

Do you owe us any money if we do not settle or collect money for you in your case?

No.

How are we paid? How much are our fees and costs?

We are paid a contingency fee, which is a percentage of the total amount recovered in your personal injury case. We also are reimbursed (paid back) for the costs that we front (advance for your claim).

If we settle your claim before a lawsuit is filed, we are paid 33 1/3%* of the total settlement. We are also paid back for the costs that we advanced for your case.

If we settle your claim after a lawsuit is filed, we are paid 40%* of the total settlement. We are also paid back for the costs that we advanced for your case.

These fees apply if your case is worth $1 Million dollars or less. Most cases are worth much less than $1 Million dollars.

If your case settles for an amount above $1 Million, our fees on any amounts above the first $1 Million are reduced according to the maximum amount allowed under the Florida bar rules.

If your claim is against the county, state or city, then our fees are 25% of the total settlement against the county, city or state, regardless of whether the case is settled before or after a lawsuit is filed. We are also paid back for the costs that we advanced for your case.

If your claim is against the federal government, and if we settle against the federal government before a lawsuit, then our fees are 20% of the total settlement.

If your claim is against the federal government, and if we settle against the federal government after a lawsuit is filed, our fees are 25% of the total settlement against the federal government. We are also paid back for the costs that we advance for your case.

Do You Owe Us a Fee if We Recover Benefits from Medical Payments (“Medpay”) Coverage?

No, unless we have to sue in good faith to get the “Med pay” benefits. Some auto insurance policies have medical payments coverage. The same is true with liability insurance policies for businesses or homes.

The attorney took a fee on the med pay benefits. The court said that the attorney wasn’t charged with a violation in connection with his a taking a full contingency fee on the medpay benefits. This implies that charging a fee on med pay isn’t allowed. I assume that the attorney didn’t sue to get Med pay benefits.

If Nationwide would’ve denied the med pay benefits, and her attorney would’ve sued for med pay, then the lawyer would’ve been able to take a fee on med pay.

What are some examples of costs?

If the case is settled before a lawsuit is filed these costs typically include, but are not limited to, such items as police reports, costs charged by hospital and medical providers for copies of medical records and copies of bills, criminal background checks, past claims history checks and photographs, certified mail, copies and postage.

Sometimes, but not always, these costs include legal research costs, investigation expenses, expert witness fees, fees for medical conferences and fees for a final medical report.

If you give us permission to file a lawsuit then costs, in addition to the above costs that we typically spend before a lawsuit, typically include, but are not limited to, the lawsuit filing fee, costs of serving summonses and subpoenas, court reporters fees, including fees for medical testimony and all litigation-related expenses.

There may be other costs that are not listed above. We will make every effort to keep these costs at an absolute minimum, consistent with the requirements of the case.

Example of attorney’s fees and costs – Settlement before lawsuit is filed

We settled a case for $445,000 before we filed a lawsuit for a client who was hit by a truck while riding a motorcycle. The $445,000 settlement was before deduction for attorney’s fees and expenses.

Our fees were 33 1/3% of the total settlement, which was $148,333. We hired an accident reconstruction expert who required a retainer (up front payment) of $2,500. We paid the hospital and medical providers to get copies of medical records and bills.

To show how much the client received, we use this formula. To keep it simple, in this example, I have not listed several other costs that we were reimbursed after we were paid our attorney’s fee.

I also did not list several other medical bills that were deducted from the client’s portion of the settlement after we were paid for our fees and costs.

We’re responsible for repaying medical providers from the client’s portion of the settlement. I am using approximate costs and medical bills to keep it simple.

In the actual case, the client received approximately $236,891 because there were additional costs that we advanced and additional medical bills that needed to be repaid.Client net settlement: $280,592

We did not file a lawsuit in the above case, but if we had, the formula would be similar, except our fees would have increased to 40% of the total settlement instead of the 33 1/3%.

The costs would have increased because there is a cost for filing a lawsuit as well as other litigation related costs.

If we settle your case and we receive our fees and costs, will you owe any medical bills?

Assuming that we are able to settle your personal injury case, we are entitled to receive our fee from the total settlement. This leaves your portion of the settlement.

Our goal is for your portion of the settlement to pay for all of your out of pocket past medical bills, if any. We also want to give you a check after all of your bills are paid.

In most cases that we’ve handled, our clients’ portion of the settlement was larger than our attorney’s fee.

We have never had one case where, after we received our fees and costs, and our client received money to pay for all the medical bills, our client was left with out of pocket bills.

Could it happen? Yes, anything is possible.

However, we are selective in the cases we take and do our best in trying to accept cases where we feel that our clients will be happy with the outcome.

Most personal injury settlements with insurance companies are based on historical settlements and verdicts. This means that insurance companies often look at past cases to predict future settlements.

We have withdrawn (stopped representing a client) in a few personal injury cases where the medical bills were likely to eat up the entire settlement.

Can We Estimate The Future Necessary Costs if We’re Your Attorney?

We will periodically tell you how much money we’ve spent on your behalf. We’ll usually send you emails with any cost invoices attached.

In the beginning of a claim, the estimated future necessary costs that we’re usually aware of are:

We will only request documents that we believe have a good likelihood of increasing your case value.

You also have the right to decide, after consulting with us, how much money is to be spent to prepare your case.

Can We Give You a List of Itemized Costs from Our Actual Past Cases?

As far as costs for similar cases, every case is different. We’ve had some cases where the costs were zero because the medical records/itemized bills were free, and there were no other costs.

We’ve had other cases, where our client had surgery, and there were hundreds or thousands of pages of medical records. In some of those cases, we hired an accident reconstruction expert or life care planner. In larger cases, the costs can add up quickly.

Will You Get Less Money Than Us or Your Doctors?

We will do our best in an attempt to put as much money as possible in your pocket. Our goal is for you to get more money in your pocket than we receive. We want happy clients.

That said, there is a chance that we receive the same amount of attorney’s fees as you. This is more likely to happen if you don’t have health insurance or the equivalent. It is also more likely to happen if there is limited bodily injury liability (BIL) insurance available.

Do We Need Your Permission to File a Lawsuit?

Yes. Pursuant to Rule 4-1.2(a), a lawyer must have the client’s consent to either sue or settle a personal injury case.

The intent of filing a lawsuit is typically so that you will get more money in your pocket than you would get if you accept a current offer, if one exists.

Some possible risks of filing a lawsuit are that you may have to accept a lower offer, or get no offer at all. This is true even if you already have a pending settlement offer.

An attorney cannot file a lawsuit on your behalf without your informed authorization.

If we make a claim against someone, and we lose the case, can the defendant counter sue you for any charges or other stuff?